This time of year is always a welcome opportunity to reflect on what is most important. President Hage Geingob has declared 2023 as “the year of revival”.
What does President Geingob mean by “the year of revival”? Nothing more or less than the profound right of all people to live their lives in accordance with the decrees of their conscience. This is quite a controversial topic in the world of non-Christian religions, with no one right answer, or even a universally accepted interpretation of the question.
As stated in the Bible, it means a restoration, rejuvenation, or renewal of interest after spiritual neglect, oblivion, or obscurity. It is a heartfelt return to God and His commandments.
A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held to inspire active members of a church body to gain new converts. When God sends revival, He also sends great joy. The angel announced to Zacharias that he would have joy and gladness at John’s birth and that many would rejoice (1:14).
They were not just rejoicing at the birth of the child, but at what this child would bring the good news of great joy for all the people, the news of the Saviour (1:19; 2:10). Sin always causes pain and destruction; God’s salvation and righteousness result in great joy and gladness, as relationships are reconciled. These interpretations are quoted from Theological Studies.
Furthermore, as stipulated by the Constitution of Namibia, Namibia is a secular State, which means the government is neutral in religious matters and is neither a proponent nor an opponent of any religion. The government practices the separation of religion and state and treats all residents equally, regardless of their religious beliefs.
The constitution allows for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right. The country has not taken any religious prisoners nor forced any religious conversions.
Therefore, in this context of diversity and individuality of wholesome intentions, President Geingob means renewed hope and optimism. It reinforces the relevance of performing certain modes of anticipatory exercises, to revive our economy.
The radical constructive and critical-reflective character in the dynamics of inclusive scrutiny and cooperation about the plausibility and desirability of the envisioned or created futures. Hence, opinions can vary and differ but there is only one set of facts and they do not change, regardless of the person speaking them.
Light at the end of the tunnel
The new year brings positive news for Namibians as fuel prices are expected to be slashed. The Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that diesel prices decreased by N$2.20 per litre and the petrol price decreased by N$1.80 per litre. These reductions are certainly good news for all consumers and signal a positive start to fuel pricing for the new year. Hence, this alleviates the fuel price burden and its related effect on goods prices, felt by Namibians in 2022.
President Geingob outlines economic rescue measures to revive the country’s ailing economy. This collective attitude is no empty metaphor. It is the attitude, which now guides the behaviour of those cabinet members every time they are acting in their official capacity. Collective effort and hard work can change the economic fortunes of Namibia.
Economic headwinds
Countries are raising fears that a new and potentially more dangerous Covid-19 variant will emerge in China. Countries are concerned that a recent surge in Covid-19 cases in China could result in new variants of the coronavirus, as well as a spike in cases. Many countries are monitoring the situation in China to implement certain measures for people travelling from China.
With the variations in the level of implementation of Covid-19 surveillance strategies seen across countries to ensure proper coordination and using tailored strategies. Our ministry of health has alerted the regions to increase Covid-19 testing due to an increase in the number of cases. The Erongo region is a matter of concern. Furthermore, inflationary pressures have intensified, which has pushed up energy and food commodity prices. The higher price of energy has helped trigger increasing prices across a broad basket of goods and services.
We need to understand that, the risks to sustaining the recovery are mostly external. The economy continues to face structural challenges such as chronic high inflation, unemployment; high levels of informality, a huge competitiveness gap, weak corporate governance institutions, challenging doing business environment, high levels of indebtedness, high inequalities, high levels of food insecurity; and high levels of poverty. The annual inflation rate increased to 7% in November of 2022, compared to 4.10% in the corresponding period of 2021.
Looking at the regional level, in South Africa, the annual inflation rate in October 2022 was 7,6%, while in Botswana it was 13,1%. The international level indicates that inflation has been on the rise on account of rising commodity prices and supply-demand imbalances. In the US, the inflation rate was 7.7% in October 2022; in the United Kingdom inflation rate was 11.1% in October; in the European Union inflation reached an all-time high of 11.5% in October 2022. The main drivers of inflation in Namibia are exchange rate developments, and energy and fuel price developments.
Therefore, 2023 will not be a walk in the park as it will have its challenges. The recent flood in Windhoek is estimated to cost insurance companies close to N$1.2 billion. The flood halted business operations resulting in a loss of income for those days. Also, the loss of inventory, valuable documents, damaged computer drives, and damage to valuable machinery may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace. We need also to understand the period of ordering products, among other things.
It is interesting to witness the evolution of business interruption (BI) coverage and how courts seem to be broadening their interpretation of these policies as more and more non-physical property damage losses become prevalent. Hence, it’s a crucial survival tactic as it insures a business against loss of revenue and helps it to continue to pay overheads and expenses during a period of downtime. It has been said that Namibia’s insurance sector is still relatively underdeveloped. The lack of a definite and comprehensive legal regulatory framework in the insurance industry is thus, not unconnected to the dearth of BI insurance in Namibia. Although there is no clear provision for the practice of BI insurance policy in Namibia, which constitutes one of the reasons why the policy is not popular in the Namibia insurance industry, it is, however, being practised by a few insurance companies in Namibia.
Therefore, in a world of growing complexity and the interrelated nature of risks, no company can rest on its laurels in terms of its Business Interruption recovery strategy. Continuity plans should always be ongoing works of improvement and constant risk mitigation. Everyone in the business should be asking what the worst-case scenario could be, and as a business, how to respond to it. Therefore, a fortified and robust business continuity plan will boost a company’s resilience in the event of BI.
Economic tailwinds
The government should not focus only on increasing GDP but also on improving the quality of life for the Namibians. It is, therefore, of vital importance that Namibian restructure the economy so that its wealth is shared by all people, to ensure that everybody enjoys a decent and rising standard of living. The call for economic emancipation must be embraced by all of us to defuse the ticking time bomb. In 2023, the focus must be on:
Education reform
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture released disappointing grade 11 and 12 examination results of which approximately 75% of learners fail to qualify for university admission. Blaming and shaming Namibia’s schoolteachers will do nothing to heal the country’s dysfunctional education system. Teachers are themselves part of a society marked by deep wounds and they need urgent government and other support, not vilification. The minister of education should understand that education is a collective effort and that she also failed and cannot shift blame.
Therefore, we failed our children. As an independent economic and business researcher, a random sampling done from various schools across the country reveals that some schools are resistant to change and teachers who are educated about learning trends may not receive funding or support to adopt them. This can lead to a lack of job satisfaction and teacher turnover and it can hold learners back from delving into a new way to learn that may help them achieve more.
Solution: To build more comprehensive education systems that will allow dealing with crises such as this one, it is essential to modernise the collection and analysis of information and to make these systems more efficient. The minister must now produce detailed guidance for schools and provide support to assist learners, particularly those in areas of disadvantage. The failure of our education system can’t be blamed on one group of individuals. The blame must be placed on all of us. If we each do our part to make things better, then and only then will our education system improve. Hence, education is a catalyst for development.
Moreover, the task ahead will not be an easy one but will require serious effort from the government, the business sector and unions. In my opinion, stakeholder engagement must be held for all of us to pull in one direction.
Increasing investments in rural infrastructure. We must make exceptional efforts to strengthen the micro and SME sector.
SMEs mostly do not receive government services. They are left to access them with their methods. SMEs have the potential to create jobs and create entrepreneurship. Improve governance to support private sectors. Embracing technology, to ensuring that holistically embrace technology across the whole country. We haven’t done this before, but we can do it.
In conclusion, Namibia exhibits a key competitive edge that can be leveraged as focus area for economic growth and diversification. The continued growth and diversification of knowledge-based industries is a significant area of focus for growing and diversifying the economy.
Therefore, we need to engage in hand-to-hand spiritual combat, changing hearts and minds one at a time. We must boldly implement the proposed social, economic and educational reforms to build a prosperous and productive Namibia for the next generation.